In a previous article, we covered what MCAT score you should aim for when applying to medical school. In this post, we’ll dive into an equally important score—your GPA. Continue reading to learn what GPA you should aim for to be a competitive applicant, what’s considered too low, and what you can do if you end up with a low GPA.
Medical School GPA
Your medical school GPA is an essential aspect of your application package. Medical schools view your GPA not only as an indicator of your academic abilities but also of how seriously you take your studies and how serious you are about becoming a doctor. Medical school is much more rigorous than undergraduate study, so a low GPA raises red flags about whether or not a student can handle the next step.
While your medical school GPA is a major indicator of your skills and commitment to your studies, it is only one piece of the medical school application process. Schools consider your GPA and your MCAT score to be hard indicators of your potential performance, as these numbers are not up to interpretation. Additionally, you will be evaluated based on your personal statement, letters of recommendation, Work and Activities, secondaries, and interviews.
Learn about the entire Medical School Application Process, including all of the other aspects of your application admission committees take into consideration.
What GPA Should Premeds Aim For?
What Is the Minimum GPA Required?
While there is no exact GPA that will guarantee entry or non-entry into medical school, there are some generally recognized guidelines when applying. It is strongly suggested that you have a minimum GPA of 3.0 to gain acceptance to any medical school. However, this is a minimum value, and most applicants should have a mid-3.0 range GPA to be competitive.
While 3.0 is often cited as a rule of thumb for the minimum GPA for medical school, most schools do not officially have a minimum GPA—though some do. For example, Virginia Commonwealth University has a minimum GPA requirement of 3.3.
Additionally, GPA standards may vary for in-state and out-of-state applicants. For example, the University of South Alabama prioritizes in-state applicants, so they require out-of-state applicants to have a GPA of 3.8 or higher.
What Is a Competitive GPA?
The GPA premeds should aim for is different for each medical school program, and it depends on each school’s competitiveness. The best way to figure out the GPA you need to gain an acceptance is to look at the GPAs of previous matriculants.
Ensure you look at matriculant data as opposed to applicant data, as you don’t only want to apply to programs—you want to gain an acceptance. For example, the average GPA of all medical school applicants in the 2022-23 period was 3.62, but the average GPA of matriculants was 3.75.
The average GPA for most competitive schools is quite high for matriculated students. The following schools all have an average matriculant GPA of 3.95:
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
- NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- Perelman School of Medicine
- Harvard Medical School
Note that an average GPA of 3.95 is very high. Many admissions officers view a GPA of 3.8 as very competitive, and they like to see at least a GPA of 3.5 or above. These scores will be especially competitive if your major is related to medicine, and it’s even better if it’s a difficult science major like neuroscience or physics.
Remember, the average GPA of matriculants at a particular medical school is not a minimum threshold you need to reach in order to gain acceptance; it reflects the middle range of the students who have matriculated. In general, if your GPA differs from the medical school’s average by 0.1 points, you will still be competitive. However, if your GPA is more than 0.3 points below the average (or in the school’s 75th or 80th percentile), they may consider your GPA to be low.
What Are the Lowest GPAs Accepted?
Many medical school programs are increasingly acknowledging that there are many good applicants who don’t meet the 3.5 GPA threshold.
In fact, many medical schools’ mission is to provide opportunities to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, which may include accepting students with lower than average GPAs. Some examples include Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, Hofstra North Shore – Zucker School of Medicine, and Morehouse School of Medicine.
How Are GPAs Calculated? Weighted vs. Unweighted
Grade point average (GPA) is calculated by averaging the grades you received in each of your courses. A grade of “A” is worth 4.0, “B” is worth 3.0, and so on. During the college admissions process, some colleges will consider both weighted and unweighted GPAs, but weighted GPAs are generally not calculated for colleges in the US and Canada. Therefore, they are not used in the medical school admissions process.
Learn more: How to Calculate Weighted vs. Unweighted GPA).
Several types of GPAs are provided to medical admissions officers, including overall GPA, non-science GPA, and science GPA. The overall GPA is the average of all courses taken without any additional weighting and is usually the GPA shown on transcripts. The science GPA is made up of grades from medical school prerequisite classes like biology, chemistry, physics, and math. Finally, the non-science GPA is for all non-science courses, such as humanities and social sciences.
In general, the overall GPA is the most important for medical school applications. It is often used by admissions officers as an initial filtering mechanism so that applications below a certain cutoff aren’t seen by an admissions officer at all. What that specific cutoff is varies by medical school.
Many admissions officers pay close attention to the science GPA as well as the overall rigor of the courses taken. A stronger course load with a weaker overall GPA may be more competitive than a weaker course load with a higher overall GPA. Additionally, if a student’s science GPA is low but they take several relatively easy courses to raise their overall GPA, this may be spotted by admissions officers.
Finally, each medical school weighs different parts of the overall medical school application differently. While having a high overall GPA is a definite plus, having a low GPA doesn’t mean you won’t be accepted to medical school.
What to Do If You Have a Low GPA
If you have a low GPA or a GPA lower than your preferred medical school’s average matriculant GPA, it doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be accepted or shouldn’t apply.
In the case of a low GPA, it’s vital that all other aspects of your application are high quality. The other important hard score of your application package is your MCAT score.
If your GPA is lower than average for your preferred schools, an above average MCAT score may compensate for this in your overall application. While it’s difficult to make significant changes to your GPA in the short term, it only takes a few months of dedicated, full-time studying to improve your MCAT score.
If you are still enrolled in your undergraduate program, you may be able to improve your GPA by retaking classes you performed poorly in. This will be helpful if you have a grade of D or F in any of your science or prerequisite courses, but it’s generally not needed for courses in which you earned a B or C. If you’ve already graduated from your undergraduate program, you may also be able to increase your GPA with formal post-bacc programs or special Master’s programs.
Learn more: Pros and Cons of Getting a Master’s Degree Before Medical School.
If your GPA is low due to an isolated semester, you should address this in an addendum to your application package. Many students experience a period of low grades due to health complications or other personal circ*mstances. You can explain your difficulties in the addendum—specifically how you’ve learned and improved as a result of the experience.
Another way to bolster your admissions package is to pursue more clinical experience or medical research internships for the Work and Activities section of your application. These are especially valuable if they result in a peer-reviewed publication or if you foster strong relationships with your supervisors and mentors so that they can provide you with strong letters of recommendation.
Finally, you may also consider applying to schools that place a lower emphasis on GPA or generally accept students with a lower GPA. While there are not many allopathic (MD) medical schools that accept students with lower GPAs, osteopathic (DO) schools are well known for accepting students with lower GPAs.
Learn more: MD vs. DO: Allopathic/Osteopathic Doctor and Med School Comparison.
Keep in mind that you’ll need to submit your application through another application service (AACOMAS) to apply to osteopathic schools, and you’ll need to illustrate in your personal statement and interviews why you believe in osteopathic medicine and want to become a DO specifically.
If you’re worried about whether or not your GPA will be competitive, read our guide to getting into medical school with a low GPA.
Build an Application That’s Strong on All Fronts
Remember that your GPA is only one piece of a huge puzzle when it comes to applying to medical school. Though it is important, it shouldn’t be the center of your attention. Applying to medical school is all about balance. You must maintain your GPA while also making strong connections, writing captivating essays, gaining a wide variety of medical experience, and excelling at the MCAT.
Keeping track of everything and maintaining momentum is no small feat. We encourage you to save and utilize our Medical School Application Timeline and Monthly Schedule, which outlines what you should prepare and work on each month leading up to medical school.
